The children, nearly 3 years old, were carried by Nixon, who was impregnated with donor eggs fertilized in vitro by Lawrence Dodge, who was then 71.

“It is clear from the evidence that Larry and Kristina Dodge were the intended parents of the surrogacy arrangement, and that DeAun Nixon intended … that she be a gestational surrogate and that she would not have parental rights to the children,” Schulte wrote in her Aug. 23 ruling.

Nixon said in an interview that she would appeal.

“I'm devastated,” Nixon said. “It's just more time that I'm separated from my children.”

Kristina Dodge, 52, said she was unafraid at the prospect of more litigation.

“I love my children with every fiber of my being,” Dodge wrote in an email. “The law is on my side.”

For two years, starting in 2009, Nixon, 52, and the Dodges lived as one big family in the Dodges' $9 million oceanfront home in Monarch Bay. The group even pitched a reality show about their life as a modern day “Brady Bunch,” with Nixon and her four children living with the Dodges, their teen daughter and the triplets.

The Dodges were already well known in Orange County for their philanthropy, giving millions to education and the arts. They also funded political interests.

But then the money dried up. Lawrence Dodge lost his bank and insurance businesses to state and federal regulators – forcing the family to live, according to bankruptcy documents, on Social Security. Their home – owned by Dodge's insurance company – is in state conservatorship, preventing them from evicting Nixon from their guest house, where she still lives.

The Dodges took family friend Nixon into their 3,970-square-foot home in 2009 after a divorce left her without a place to stay. In a previous interview, Nixon said she later offered to serve as a surrogate mother for the couple, carrying a child or children to term. She signed a makeshift surrogacy agreement that she insisted in court was fraudulent because, among other things, it was tailored to another surrogate.

The judge ruled otherwise.

“Ms. Nixon claims that the surrogacy agreement is fraudulent, that she didn't sign it or agree to the terms, that she was not given proper notice of the adoption proceeding, and that the intent of the parties … was for her to be a co-parent,” wrote Schulte. “This simply is not borne out by the evidence.”

Schulte also said the case came down to credibility. After 2½ days of testimony, Schulte said she found Kristina Dodge was the most credible and Nixon to be “extremely vague.”

“There is no doubt in the court's mind that Ms. Nixon is a very loving person who made a magnanimous gesture for her friends,” wrote Schulte.

But Schulte ruled Nixon could not prove that the Dodges had intended to share custody of the babies, Tatiana, Cozette and Alexandra, with her.

“Kristina Dodge (said) that Ms. Nixon told her she never had to worry about her taking (the) babies, that there was no need for a contract, and that she was doing this out of the goodness of her heart, which the court believes,” wrote Schulte.